Dave Reichert, the Wrong Choice for the 8th District
Bellevue, WA – NARAL Pro-Choice Washington members and volunteers headed out to the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue today, to protest the extreme anti-choice policies of Representative Dave Reichert. Reichert was speaking at an event sponsored by the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce. “The voters of the 8th Congressional District are pro-choice voters. They value freedom, privacy and personal responsibility and they do not want politicians like Dave Reichert interfering in private decision making”, said Blythe Chandler, Deputy Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Washington.
• Reichert voted to cut contraception from a list of services funded by the federal government to help reduce the incidence of complications associated with childbirth in developing countries. (Reichert voted for the Smith Amendment to FY’06 Foreign Relations Authorization Act, H.R.2601. The Smith (R-NJ) Amendment cut contraception from the list of services offered to poor women overseas in order to prevent obstetric fistula. The Amendment passed on 7/19/05.)
• Reichert has not made clear whether or not he believes Americans have right to access birth control. Reichert has not even signed on in support of the Plan B for Plan B Act, (H.R 4229), which would improve access to birth control. This legislation would give the FDA 30 days to approve or deny the application for the "morning-after pill" Plan B®.
• The Washington State Board of Pharmacy recently proposed a rule allowing pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions for birth control based on their personal, non-medical judgments. We still do not know Dave Reichert’s position on this issue – does he believe pharmacists should be allowed to refuse to fill valid prescriptions for personal reasons?
• Reichert’s extreme anti-choice views are completely out of step with the views of voters in the 8th Congressional District. He believes government is best-suited to make personal reproductive health decisions for a woman and her family.
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